this is bbc news. the headlines at eight: the queen pays tribute to unsung heroes who do "small acts of goodness" in her christmas message. i often draw strength from meeting ordinary people doing extraordinary things. volunteers, carers, community organisers and good neighbours. but she's forced to miss the christmas day church service at sandringham because of a heavy cold. 11 bodies have been recovered from the black sea after a russian military plane crashes, killing all 92 people on board. also in the next hour, in his christmas day sermon the archbishop of canterbury says the last year has left the world "awash with division and fear". pope francis calls for a new effort for peace between israel and the palestinians, at his christmas mass from the vatican. and coming up in half an hour, we celebrate the lives of those

who left us this year, including david bowie, in review 2016: we remember part ii. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the queen has missed her annual christmas day visit to church because of a heavy cold. other members of the royal family, including the duke of edinburgh, attended the service at sandringham without her. in her traditional christmas broadcast, the queen focussed on the theme of "inspiration". our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. morning service at sandringham — part of the royal family's christmas day routine.

but with one significant absentee this year — the queen. while other members of her family, including the duke of edinburgh, gathered at the church, the queen remained at sandringham house, continuing to recover from what buckingham palace described as a heavy cold. in a short statement, the palace said she would take part in the family's celebrations. her absence from the church service, the first time in many years she hasn't attended, is understood to be a precautionary measure. there is no sense of undue concern. also absent from sandringham were the duchess and duke of cambridge and their children, george and charlotte. they attended church in the berkshire village of bucklebury, where they are spending christmas day with the duchess‘s family, the middletons. in her christmas day broadcast, recorded at buckingham palace several weeks ago, the queen talks about inspiration. she reflects on the achievements of olympic and paralympic athletes from britain and the commonwealth, many of whom she met at a palace reception in october.

i often draw strength from meeting gordon very people doing extraordinary things. volunteers, carers, immunity organisers and good neighbours. unsung heroes who quiet makes them special. and in this year, when the queen has marked her 90th birthday, she will refer to the inspirational work of the many charities with which she has been associated during her reign. she will also talk about the work of the many unsung heroes she meets around the country — carers, community leaders and good neighbours. the it is understandable that we sometimes think the world's problems are so sometimes think the world's problems are so big we can do little to help. alone, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice. but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of justice can be bigger than we imagine. she said her own life i'd been inspired by christianity.

christ's example helps me see the value of doing things with great love. was broadcast by a monarch poll vote than usually indisposed this christmas shows little sign of yielding to the passage of years. for the queen, there has been her significant 90th birthday and the lightning of her workload. but there is an expectation whatsoever that she will step away from the main duties of her role as monarch and head of state. and nicolas explained in more detail earlier why the queen had been unable to attend church today. buckingham palace is trying to be as precise as they can be in defining what the ailment is. he also had this heavy cold,

but he was at the church. in the case of the queen, they are just keeping her in the warm. but she will, according to buckingham palace, by taking part in the family's celebrations later in the day. people at sandringham were taking it very well. it was a protective move given that she is the age she is. it was far better she should remain indoors and not go out to church on this occasion. it were disappointed many who had made thejourney occasion. it were disappointed many who had made the journey to go to sandringham. not only did they not see the queen, but neither prince william nor the duchess of cambridge nor their children who this year we re nor their children who this year were spending christmas day with the middleton family in berkshire. eleven bodies have been recovered after a russian military plane with more than 90 people on board crashed into the black sea. the plane was carrying 64 members of the renowned red army choir and was heading from sochi to latakia in syria. russian president vladimir putin has declared a day of mourning tomorrow. from moscow, steve rosenberg sent this report. this is one of the final images

of the tupolev—isii jet. it was taken by a journalist before he boarded the plane. the flight would end in tragedy. the aircraft crashed into the black sea. the russians scrambled helicopters and ships but the search became a recovery operation. there were no survivors. the plane had taken off from a military airfield near moscow. it flew south, stopping in sochi to refuel. the final destination was syria, and russia's airbase near latakia, but minutes after leaving sochi, it crashed. at the russian defence ministry, a spokesman said that more than 90 people were on board the plane. he said the recovery operation was continuing. on board were more than 60 members of the russian army's famous song and dance ensemble, once known as the red army choir. they had been due to give a concert at the russian airbase in syria. most civilian airlines have stopped using the tupolev—isii, once the workhorse of the russian aviation industry. in 2010, a tupolev—isii carrying

the polish president crashed in russia, while trying to land. the following year, a similar plane caught fire in siberia before take—off. now the investigation begins into another disaster, to find out why this russian plane fell from the sky into the sea. this disaster has left russia stunned and silence. the kremlin has promised a thorough investigation into this tragedy and is glared at monday a day of national mourning. —— has a. olga ivshina of the bbc

russian service has been looking the red army band consists of three parts — the choir, the musicians, and also some dancing people. and actually an orchestra and dancers, they stayed in moscow. and the quiet was travelling. chile has lifted a tsunami alert, after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck off the coast. the quake hit 140 miles southwest of puerto montt. buildings in the area were evacuated as a precaution, but there are no reports of damage or casualties. church leaders have used their christmas sermons to reflect on the emotional impact of global events in 2016. the archbishop of canterbury,

justin welby, told his congregation that the end of the year leaves people in a less predictable world. martin bashir reports. entering canterbury cathedral in time—honoured fashion, archbishop justin welby focused his christmas day sermon on the uncertainty and division that has marked both domestic and international politics over the last year. he described 2016 as a year of unpredictability and uncertainty, the end of 2016 fighters in a less predictable world which feels more awash with fear and division. he went on to suggest that our anxiety is a clear sign that placing our trust in material prosperity has failed. the uncertainty of our world and our feelings tell us's our values all in

the wrong place. —— or in the wrong place. security was in place following the berlin attack, pope francis also criticised materialism, and appealed to christians to stand out as people of compassion and self—sacrifice. translation: it is time for weapons to be still forever and the international community to actively seek a negotiated solution so that civil coexistence can be restored in the country. he concluded by appealing for christians to stand out people of compassion and self—sacrifice. our rome correspondent david willey listened to the pope's message and gave us this update. it is not unexpected that he devoted his message to the problem of world peace. he lamented the fact that there

is so much conflict going on, wherever you look in the world — the middle east, africa, his native latin america. and even he referred to the conflict still going on between north and south korea, the fact that there has been no end to the state of war, which has existed for decades between those two countries. he says without peace, there is no future for the world. people have the resolve their conflicts. and then he went on to talk in a much more personal way about all of those who have suffered, not only those who have suffered from violence, he mentioned, he mentioned the berlin terrorist attack, but also the children who have been suffering in syria. the children who have been suffering in other ways as well,

brought over from africa across the mediterranean on these overcrowded boats, many of them losing their lives. and the children who are hungry because they are malnourished. a world war ii bomb that caused the evacuation of more than 50,000 residents of a german city has now been defused. residents of the southern german city of augsburghad had been forced to leave their homes on christmas day so that the huge bomb could be defused. this was the biggest evacuation in germany for an unexploded bomb since the end of the war. the british bomb is thought to be a legacy of an allied air—raid in 19114, which destroyed the old town. the israeli leader benjamin neta nyahu has ordered his foreign ministry to summon and reprimand ambassadors from countries on the united nations security council, including britain. the move is a response to the un vote on friday that condemned israel's building of jewish settlements in the occupied west bank.

our middle east analyst, alanjohnston, told me that mr netanyahu's action shows his frustration with the security council. it looks as if a number of ambassadors in israel did not quite have the kind of christmas day they may have been planning. as you say, a string of them called into this industry —— foreign ministry on the orders of benjamin netanyahu and the british, french, the russians, the chinese, the spanish, the and others will have been left in no doubt at all as to israel's deep frustration about what happened on friday. the passing of that un resolution which strongly condemned the israeli settle m e nt strongly condemned the israeli settlement building project in the occupied territories, describing it asa occupied territories, describing it as a flagrant violation of

international law. suddenly israel found itself without a friend in the world after the us turned its back on the israelis and allow the resolution to go and didn't veto it, the message is clearfrom resolution to go and didn't veto it, the message is clear from the world body and israel is not accepting it for one moment. the latest on carrie fisher, we have just had a tweet from her mother, debbie reynolds, saying carrie is in a stable condition and if there is a change we will share it. for all her fa ns change we will share it. for all her fans and front, i thank you for your prayers and good wishes. —— are all herfans prayers and good wishes. —— are all her fans and front. carrie fisher suffered a heart attack and was coming to the end of a flight from london to los angeles. this was about two days ago and at the time, passengers had attempted to revive

her by performing cpr. she was taken to hospital after landing just before midday at local time. her brother reportedly said that at the time, she was in intensive care. but as we're hearing now from the mother, the movie star debbie reynolds, carrie fisher is in a sta ble reynolds, carrie fisher is in a stable condition. now the headlines: the headlines: the queen pays tribute to unsung heroes who do "small acts of goodness" in her christmas message. but she's forced to miss the christmas day church service at sandringham because of a heavy cold. 11 bodies have been recovered from the black sea after a russian military plane crashes, killing all 92 people on board. the queen has missed the annual christmas day church service